Many of today's families own handguns which are kept in the home or in the family car for security purposes. It is always a concern to keep the handgun stored in an out-of-the-way place far from a child's reach. No matter how careful a parent might be, there are many instances wherein a child finds a handgun around the house or car and accidentally discharges the gun resulting in serious injury or death to the child or a playmate.
To prevent these accidents, various safety devices have been proposed for handguns, wherein a strap extends around the gun hammer to a barrel insert or cap. Such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,412,397, dated Nov. 1, 1983; 4,569,144, dated Feb. 11, 1986; and 4,961,277, dated Oct. 9, 1990. While these devices have been satisfactory for their intended purpose, they have been characterized by certain disadvantages. For instance, to remove the safety device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,397, it is necessary to cut the strap, thus, rendering the device non-reusable.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,144, to remove the device, it is necessary to push a spring biased insert further into the gun barrel to relieve the tension of the strap extending around the hammer, thus providing a possibility of the gun being accidentally fired before the insert has been removed completely out of the barrel.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,277, the strap is connected to a block in the front of the barrel, and a releasable cap is operatively connected to the block to hold the block on the front of the barrel. This device requires a plurality of parts, and manipulation to attach the device to the gun barrel and remove it therefrom.